Fires of Protection: A Ninjago Fanfic
by TLFScarheart12
Summary: A mixture of requests by Specifically me, Kaori, and crow in the wind. Kai's usual protective nature is stirred after Nya is badly hurt when a band of thugs attack the village. As the ninjas pursue the attackers, Kai must learn a hard lesson.
1. Chapter 1: Disastrous Consequences

No one knew who they were or where they were fro, or even what their motive was. But they were trouble. And where trouble occurs, the ninjas are normally there within minutes.

Minutes seemed to be too long of a time this time. The thugs had already made a mess of the small village. People were running frantically. Children clung to their parents' hands crying. Statues were smashed, as well as part of the fountain causing flooding. Many were injured, but, thankfully, no one had been killed.

Kai and the others had to drive them out of town before too many people were hurt. Luckily most of the thugs who were attacking were intimidated by their display of spinjitzu. Now they just had to drive the tougher ones out.

Nya came running out holding two daggers in attempt to help them out.

"Nya no! Stay back!" Kai warned.

He didn't want his little sister to get hurt.

"No. I can help," Nya declared parrying rocks that the thugs threw at her.

Kai, protective as ever, tried to get closer to his sister. To help defend her but a group of thugs forced him back. Kai swung his sword trying to urge them towards the village exit, but the progress was slow and there were still others getting past him. Kai knew the others had a similar problem. They needed a plan.

"Looks like we'll have to pull in the big one! Tornado of creation!" Cole commanded, "EARTH!"

"FIRE!" echoed Kai.

"ICE!" Zane followed.

"LIGHTNING!" Jay finished.

"NINGAGOOO!"

The four elemental tornados merged and grew into a giant one of pure light sucking in debris. The remaining thugs fled the village and the villagers cheered as the tornado dies down revealing a large statue of a dragon.

"Alright!" Kai cheered high fiving his team mates.

Another day. Another disaster averted…or so it seemed for the moment.

"Look!" a villager cried.

The ninja's turned and saw the problem. The statue the tornado of creation had made was top heavy. And it was tilting.

Before anyone could do anything the statue started to topple onto it's side. It fell away from buildings but it was headed right towards Jay.

"Jay! Run!" Cole shouted.

But Jay seemed rooted to the spot with fear.

With no warning Nya dashed forward heading right towards Jay.

"Nya! Don't!" Kai tried to stop her.

But Nya didn't listen. At last second she reached Jay and have him a hard shove.

Jay stumbled into safety, but there was no time for Nya to save herself.

CRASH!

The statue was on the ground. Underneath it was Nya.

"NYA! NOOOOOO!" Jay cried running towards the statue and trying to lift it off of her. The ninjas ran forward to help and so did most of the villagers. After several minutes of intense effort the statue was lifted enough for one of the thinner villagers to crawl under and drag Nya to safety.

The statue was dropped and the ninjas ran to their fallen ally.

"She's unconscious, but I think she's breathing," the village said, stepping away so the ninjas could have a better look.

Nya was unconscious and bruised. But miraculously she was alive.

"She must have been under a part that curved inwards," Zane observed, "There's no other way she could have survived that."

"Someone get a doctor!" Cole called.

A couple villagers ran off to do as Cole said.

Within ten minutes Nya was under medical care. The doctors told the ninjas she was in a coma, and they weren't sure when she would wake up.

With heavy hearts the ninjas returned to the Dojo.

Sensei Wu was waiting for them. "Why so gloomy?" he asked.

"Let just say," Jay answered, "We just learned the hard way what you meant when you said the tornado of creation can lead to disastrous consequences."


	2. Chapter 2: Kai's Little Sister

That evening Kai stood outside the dojo looking down at the village. Underneath one of those rooftops was Nya inert and bruised. Kai's best comfort was that she wasn't in any pain.

Kai sighed. He'd always been protective, but with Nya it was bigger. Nya was his little sister. They'd grown up together. Kai had always been there for his sister no matter what. But this time he had failed to save her.

The other ninjas went out to him.

"Hey, dinner's almost ready. Come on in. You gotta be cold," said Cole trying to lighten the mood.

Kai didn't answer. He didn't want to eat or warm up. He just wanted to feel bad about what had happened.

"It's all my fault…" he said at last, "I'm her older brother. I should have done something."

"Technically it's my fault," said Jay, "I was the one she saved."

"No, it's mine. I shouldn't have had us do the tornado of creation," Cole interjected.

"I'd hate to disagree, but technically, it's mine. I should have sensed the danger," said Zane.

The four ninjas stared at each other. This was weird. Normally if something went wrong they would blame each other instead of themselves.

"I guess this is what happens when it's a hurt ally rather than other consequences," said Zane.

"The past cannot be changed," said Sensei Wu coming up from behind them, "And the blame game will not wake up Nya. Instead you should focus your energy on preventing further problems."

"Like controlling the tornado of creation?" Jay asked.

"No. What is made cannot be controlled. That is why it is such a risky move. Yes to your previous comment, Jay. This is what I meant by disastrous consequences," Sensei Wu told him.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Kai, "Are you saying there's a way to help her?"

"I'm sorry, Kai, but there isn't. Nya will have to pull through on her own," said Sensei Wu, "Still she is a tough girl. I'm sure she will."

"Then what do you want us to do Sensei?" Zane asked.

"Have any of you been thinking of the attack on the village itself?" Sensei Wu asked, "You should focus on tracking down the band of thugs behind this and preventing further attacks. Do that, and while we can't promise that Nya will recover, we can promise that she will come to no further harm."

Keeping his sister from further harm, Kai wanted to protect her from any harm. But right now that was all he could do, continue to try to protect her.

Sensei sure knows where my buttons are, Kai thought.

"Alright," he said at last, "I'm in. I'll figure out what's going on and stop those thugs before they can return to the village."

"He means all of us will," said Cole.

Actually that wasn't what Kai meant. It was HIS sister. But he didn't say anything. Once Cole decided it was a team effort, it was a team effort. It was a waste of effort to persuade him otherwise.

"Very good. You should start tomorrow as early as possible…Oh, by the way, the real reason I came out here was to tell Cole that the tonkatsu and the ice are burning."

Cole got a panicked look and ran inside. The others stared after him. Kai suspected that they were wondering the same thing as him. How did Cole manage to burn ice?


	3. Chapter 3: Complications

The next morning Kai woke up early in order to get a head start. It seemed, however, everyone else had the same idea. The other three were already up. Zane was making breakfast. Cole and Jay were preparing to leave.

"Good morning, Kai," Zane greeted him.

"Uh…Morning…why are you all up so early? The sun's barely up," said Kai.

"We kinda figured you'd try to get a head start on us. Nya's your sister after all, and you're pretty protective of her. You were so upset over what happened yesterday it was only common sense. Not to mention you tend to rush into things and…"Jay babbled.

"I get it!" said Kai cutting him off.

"Anyway we couldn't just let you leave without us," said Cole, "We're a team, and we all want to stop these thugs, especially after what happened to Nya."

Kai sighed. There was just no stopping these ninjas. Now if only their enemies realized that.

During breakfast Cole outlined his plan, "We first need to track down the band of thugs and figure out why they attacked in the first place. From there we'll work on stopping future attacks."

The others nodded agreeing.

After the meal the 4 mounted their dragons. It was a short flight, only to the edge of the village. Once they landed they had to go on foot to track them easily.

Before they left Cole asked Jay and Kai, "Do you want to see Nya for a few minutes first?"

"No," said Kai, "I want to stop these thugs before they attack the village again. And I don't want to waste time in doing so."

Jay seemed less certain but finally said, "I guess Kai's right. I just wish I knew how she was doing."

"She's no worse," Zane assured both of them, "I sense that she is being well cared for and is in no danger at this time."

Kai was relieved. Zane's gift had never let him down before.

The four started tracking the thugs. They had gotten quite a distance. Eventually the ninjas were lead to an area near the pits of despair and not dissimilar from them. It was a deep, hot, dry canyon.

The 4 continued to follow the tracks until Zane suddenly stopped. He looked like he wanted to puke.

"Zane are you okay?" Kai asked walking up to him.

Zane nodded, "J-just give me a minute."

Kai and Cole sat Zane down on a stone and Zane took off his mask taking deep breaths.

"What wrong?" Cole asked.

"Sometimes I sense something particularly dark and particularly strong. When I sense such a thing I tend to feel sick," Zane explained.

Kai was worried. Could Zane continue in this condition? He was much more likely to get hurt like this.

Kai was about to suggest Zane stay where he was and rest, when Zane stood.

"That's better. Please forgive the delay." he said.

"No problem," Jay smiled.

"Are you sure you should continue? If you want you can rest here," said Kai.

"I have adjusted to the feeling. I should be fine," said Zane.

"What exactly were you sensing?" Cole asked.

"Death…lots of it. Plus jealousy and anger…a little bit of grief as well," Zane said, "I sense that while we will protect the town the thugs are the least of our problems. Something much bigger lies underneath their attack. But I'm not sure what it is."

This made Kai's worry worse. What were the ninjas getting into? What if something happened to the others. Bad enough Nya was in the condition she was in. Could everyone else follow?

"Kai!"

Cole's voice snapped Kai out of his thoughts.

"Lets go already!"

Kai nodded and followed the others. The trail eventually led strait into a pile of rocks.

"Looks like these rocks are blocking a cave. We'll have to remove them one at a time. Be careful not to disturb the whole pile…understood Kai?"

Kai glared at Cole. So he rushed into things. There was no need to call him out for it.

The ninjas worked carefully removing each rock one at a time. Finally there was a large enough gap for them to climb inside the cave.

What they saw was horrifying.

The thugs that had attacked the village were now scattered across the floor, dead.


	4. Chapter 4: The Noh Mask

"What happened here?" Cole asked sounding horrified.

Kai couldn't blame him. While there was no blood or any sign of any injuries that could have caused it, the thugs were without a doubt dead. It was certainly unsettling. What if they were next?

"What do we do now?" Jay asked.

"We need to figure out what killed them. Let's look around," said Cole.

The ninjas fanned out examining the bodies looking for clues. Had an illness caused this? A poison?

Kai then noticed a small opening in the wall of the cave, just big enough for people to crawl through.

Without telling the others, he went through the opening and down a small passage. It was dark, but there was a glow at the end of it that Kai crawled towards.

The glow turned out to be from a small room, empty save for a couple torches, a pile of rocks, and a noh mask on said rocks. The mask was red and had 2 devil like horns and a vicious smile on it as well as heavily slanted eyes. It looks as though the eyes wanted to cry and the mouth wanting to laugh.

Kai couldn't see anything contributing to the death of the thugs and was about to return to the others when suddenly the rocks began to rattle.

Kai watched in terror as the levitated and formed into a person's shape, the mast acting as the head.

The rock being turned its attention to Kai.

Kai was about to call for help but stopped himself. His sister was already in a coma. He couldn't let that happen to his fellow ninjas as well. If he was going to protect them, he couldn't let them know where he was.

Kai drew his sword. He was positive the creepy mask had something to do with the animation of the rocks. If he split the mask he should manage to save himself.

He ran towards the being at full speed and leapt up his sword high above his head. The creature swatted him away like a fly and Kai crashed into the wall, hitting his head hard, and slid down.

Too dizzy to move, Kai looked up at the creature too helpless to stop it. The rock being lifted hand about to smash Kai.

CLANG!

From out of nowhere Cole appeared at his side his scythe deflecting the rock being's hand before Kai could get hurt.

Jay also appeared. He swung his nunchucks hard hitting one of the stones in the leg. The being collapsed in on itself.

"Kai, are you okay?" Cole asked anxiously.

"I'm okay. Hurry! Split the mask or the creature will just come back," Kai told him.

Cole nodded and rushed up the pile of rocks like a pro. Kai stood and watched as the scythe was brought down on the mask splitting it cleanly in half.

There was a great wail of a female voice that pierced Kai's eardrums. The touches blew out just before the noise ended.

"Get back to the entrance," Cole ordered.

Kai felt along the wall until he found the hole and climbed back to where the thugs were. Zane was waiting there. Jay and Cole soon emerged.

"How did you guys find me?" Kai asked.

"You can thank Zane for that one," said Jay, "He suddenly felt worse and told us not only had the evil that had killed the thugs awakened, but that it was attacking you. He pointed out the opening and we came after you. Speaking of which, Zane what exactly did we fight?"

"A spirit of some sort," Zane replied, "A spirit driven by jealousy to hate the village and everyone in it. It had possessed some sort of symbolic item."

"A noh Mask," Kai filled in.

"The spirit inside the mask then possessed the thugs, but removed itself after their failure. Since it wasn't a proper exorcism, the thugs died. That's all I know," Zane concluded.

"No wonder you felt sick," said Jay.

Kai nodded. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to sense all that.

"We split the mask. Is it safe to say the danger has passed?" asked Cole.

"Yes. The spirit is gone from this place," Zane said standing.

"Let's head back then," said Cole.

Kai followed the others. He hoped now that the bandits were gone as well as their motive for attacking that he could convince Cole to let him visit Nya before heading back to the dojo.

This is of course unless she was dead and Zane simply didn't have the heart to tell him.


	5. Chapter 5: What if you had died?

Kai didn't need to find a way to bring Cole into conversation. Cole already wanted one.

"Pretty risky move you pulled back there," he scolded, "You should have had us come with."

Kai pretended not to hear. He already knew what Cole would say if he told them why he went on his own, and he didn't want to hear it.

"Are you listening to me?" Cole demanded angrily, "Kai, getting yourself killed isn't going to wake up your sister."

"I never said it would," Kai snapped.

"Than what in Ninjago made you think it was a good idea to go on your own?" Cole asked sharply.

"I didn't know what was down there," stated Kai.

"More reason to have had someone..." Cole started.

But, he was interrupted but Kai saying, "And I didn't want any of you to end up like Nya is now."

Cole was silent for a moment before saying, "It's not worth risking yourself over. Remember, we're a..."

"Team. I know." said Kai grumpily.

He knew Cole would say that. Cole didn't understand. Did Cole even know what it was like to be in Kai's position? How could Cole constantly say they were a team and expect Kai to not want to protect everyone?

The fact was it was no longer just Kai and his little sister. Those days ended when Sensei Wu had introduced him to the others. He cared for the others more than they probably realized. If they truly were a team then Kai had to make sure that team stayed alive, even if it meant putting himself at risk from time to time.

"It must be hard for you," said Zane suddenly, "Feeling like you could not protect your sister. We are all grieving with you."

Kai looked over at the white ninja. Where did that come from? he wondered.

"We're all feeling guilty about what happened to be honest," Jay added, "We all contributed in some way to the accident. But we understand how it's stronger for you. You've always been the protective one. Plus Nya's your sister."

"It's good for you to want to protect your team," said Cole.

Kai stared. Now that he did not expect to hear Cole say.

"But we need to be protectors too. We're all ninjas. Yes being part of the team means you need to protect us, but you need to give us the chance to protect you as well. You're lucky Zane sensed the danger you were in," Cole continued.

Kai shrugged. It all came back to the team in the end. He should have known.

"Think of it this way," said Jay, "if you die protecting us, who will protect us the next time we need help?"

Kai stopped walking hearing that. That hadn't occurred to him.

"That's why we need to protect each other, so that none of us is down one protector, because, if that happens, it could turn into a domino effect. Not to mention what Zane and I found when the skeletons kidnapped me. And let's face it. I don't want to lose any of my friends!" Jay babbled.

Kai smiled. It seemed Jay also knew where his buttons were.

"I'm sorry. You guys are right. I should have said what I was doing…but at least since I didn't Zane didn't get any closer," Kai joked.

The ninjas laughed except Zane.

"Anyway," said Cole, "we left of dragons near the village. Do you want to see your sister before we go home?"

Kai could only nod as his thoughts turned again to his little sister. He still felt responsible for what had happened. Who knew when Nya would wake up...or even if she would.

In the village things weren't very bright. Nya hadn't move a muscle since the accident.

Tears pricked Kai's eyes. How could he have let this happen? To the only family he had left. Nya. His sister. His little sister. Said tears ran down his cheeks. Kai rarely cried, but he just couldn't help it this time.

Kai put his arms and head next to her on the sleeping pallet and sobbed. What if she didn't wake up? What if she actually died?

"Kai…please don't cry," said a weak voice.

Kai looked up and his tears turned to tears of joy.

Looking into his eyes and weakly attempting to reach his face to wipe his tears, was Nya. She was awake. It was all going to be alright.

Footnote to all who had a request used in this: Thank you all for your ideas. I hope mixing the ideas together was enough to satisfy everyone.


End file.
